Technical Field
This disclosure relates to a drive device and an image forming apparatus incorporating the drive device.
Related Art
Various types of drive devices include a first drive transmission passage through which a driving force is transmitted to a first rotary body via a drive transmission cutting device and a second drive transmission passage through which a driving force is transmitted to a second rotary body. Such drive devices include a drive transmission member disposed on the second drive transmission passage. The drive transmission member is rotatably supported by a rotary shaft to which a driving force is inputted via the drive transmission cutting device.
A known drive device includes an input gear having external teeth, a distribution gear having external teeth and a transmission gear having external teeth, which are mounted on the rotary shaft. The input gear has external teeth and functions as an input drive transmission member to input a driving force to the rotary shaft via a drive transmission cutting device. The distribution gear has external teeth and is meshed with the external teeth of the input gear. Accordingly, the driving force applied by a drive motor is transmitted to the distribution gear. The transmission gear has the external teeth and functions as a drive transmission member to be meshed with the distribution gear. Specifically, the distribution gear has a predetermined length in an axial direction of the distribution gear. The transmission gear and the input gear are meshed with the distribution gear at different positions. Then, the distribution gear transmits the driving force to the input gear and the driving force to the transmission gear.